Kolkata, Feb 11 (IANS) Men’s top seed Rakesh Myneni and women’s third seed Rushmi Chakravarthi were crowned champions at the Indian Jute National Grass Court Tennis Championship here Saturday.
Myneni won in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 against second seed and defending champion Suresh Krishna.
Rushmi overcame a tough challenge by 16-year-old fourth seed Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy. After losing her first set 6-7(3), she came back strongly to grab the next two sets 7-6(2),7-5 and with that crown. The match lasted for over three hours.
Veteran Rushmi showed her passion for the game when she broke Reddy in the fifth game of the second set after trailing 0-4 and won the set 7-6 (2).
Chakravarti suffered back pain and asked medical assistance after the second game of third set but didn’t give up and won the set 7-5 after breaking her serve. The longest game of the match was played at seventh game of the third set for over twenty minutes with six deuces.
“It was the toughest match of the tournament and I am happy to win the match after a tough competition from a young girl,” said Chakravarti after the match.
Myneni, 24, won his match comfortably over state-mate Suresh after breaking him in the 6th game of the first set, followed by seventh in the second set, serving 7 aces on his way to victory in just 57 minutes.
After winning his maiden tournament on grass court, Myneni expressed happiness and hoped to play in the Davis Cup for India in near future.